The Accident
by ilovepeeta4ever
Summary: Katniss has been in a abusive relationship with gale for five years. One day he comes home drunk and tries to take advantage of her. She fights back and accidentally kills him. Katniss flees the city, hoping that she won't get in jail. When she settles down in a small town, Katniss keeps her past a secret. But with new friends, and a boy who cares about her, how long will she last?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This story is not only mine. Awesomegirl2656 and I, are the author's of this story. I hope you all like this story and please review and tell us what you thought.**

**Disclaimer: We don't own the hunger games or it's characters. All credit goes to Suzanne Collins. **

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**Katniss's POV**

_My name is Katniss Everdeen. I'm 23 years old. I'm in an abusive relationship. Gale is my boyfriend's name. I met him two weeks after my family's funeral. He was nice at first but turned really mean. I don't work because Gale thinks I might leave him for someone else. I don't go outside except to throw out the trash. Gale thinks I'll run away. I haven't been outside for five years. Gale says he's just protecting me. My parents died in a car crash. I was with them but somehow survived. I feel guilty for living._

I look in the mirror and see my black eye. I look down at my waist and see gale's belt print. There's several bruises on my body and scars. This was all Gale's doing.

He's going to be home in two hours, from work. I need to start cooking dinner, I don't want to piss him off. I put on some clothes and step out the bathroom.

I turn on the light in the kitchen and start to take out potatoes and carrots. I'm going to make him a nice hot soup. I wash the vegetables and I hear a knock on the door. No one ever knocks on the door, when Gale's not home. I wipe my hands and head over to the door.

I see that it's just greasy sae. She lives down the street, I secretly have her over sometimes when gale isn't here. I wish it were everyday but I can't because I'm scared someone will tell gale.

I open the door and say," Would you like to come in?"

"Thank you dear." Sae says and steps in the house.

"Can I get you anything?" I ask and she shakes her head.

"I just wanted to let you know that gale had a bad day at work today." she warns." I saw him heading over to a bar earlier, I think he got fired."

"Oh." I say and my heart sinks to my stomach. Gale is even more horrible when he's drunk. I feel myself start to shake and sae places a hand on my arm.

"If anything happens you come to me." She says and I shake my head.

"I can't, I'll get in trouble." I say.

"Fight back." She says.

"I'm not strong enough and it will piss him off even more." I say and a tear escapes my eye. I'm scared.

She wipes it and says," Why don't you call the police?"

"Gale is the police." I say and sniff. Gale is a police officer. He's really friendly with everyone at work, so they won't believe he'd hit me.

Sae sighs and pulls me in for a hug.

"You are a very strong young lady for dealing with this everyday." She says and pats my back.

I sniff and look at the clock," Sae you better go, who knows when gale will get home."

"Ok dear." She says and gives me a kiss on the cheek." Be strong and fight back."

I give her a small smile. I can't fight back, gale is stronger than me.

"Have a good day sae." I say and she nods. She leaves the house and I get back to the vegetables. I quickly put everything I need into the pot and let it cook. I adjust the heat and I hear the front door open. I turn and see that it's gale. He's completely drunk.

"W-what are you doing?" He says in a low menacing voice.

"I-I'm cooking you a soup." I stutter in fear.

He grunts and says," Are you going to give me a welcome home kiss or what? Do you like someone else!"

"No." I shake my head and give him a kiss on the lips. He tastes like liquor. I try not to gag and pulls back.

"You're worthless." He mutters.

I don't say anything and it pisses him off.

"I said you're worthless!" He yells and knocks a vase off the table. I flinch and he yells," Serve me dinner!"

"The soups not done yet." I say scared of what's going to happen next.

"I said to serve me some dinner!" He yells and slaps me. I'm used to the pain.

"Ok. I'll see what I can get you." I say and head over to the fridge. There's some left over lasagna from yesterday. I bend down to pick it up and I feel gale's hands on my hips. He turns me around and presses his lips against mine. I feel his hand trailing down to my butt and I squeeze my eyes shut really tight. I don't want him to touch me like that. I feel him starting to pull down my pants and I stop him.

"Gale stop." I shake my head and lift up my jeans.

"I own you, now shut the fuck up." He says and tries to lift down my jeans again but I pull back.

"Stop." I say and he rips my shirt off.

"Shut the fuck up!" He yells and punches me in the stomach. I feel the air get knocked out of me. He starts to play with my pants again and I'm in too much pain to function correctly.

I see him unbuckling his belt and I panic. I try to get away from him but he smacks me. I fall onto the tile floor and taste blood in my mouth.

"I fucking hate you." He says and kicks me in the face. I feel pain shoot across my face and I yelp.

I get up and remember what sae said,' fight back.'

I feel him punch me in the stomach again and I try to catch my breath. I turn around and slap him across the face. Wrong move. He punches me in the face two times and I think I see stars. I grab the nearest thing around me and hit him in the stomach with it. I see that his face is still for a moment and he falls on the floor clutching his stomach. I look down and see a puddle of blood starting to form.

I gasp and cover my mouth. I didn't mean to get a knife. I didn't mean to stab him!

Tears escape my eyes and I see that he stays still. I killed gale.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thank you for reviews! Thank you for favoriting, following, alerting, and reading this story! We appreciate it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the hunger games or it's character. All credit goes to Suzanne Collins.**

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**Katniss's POV**

My hand flies to my mouth and a sob escapes it.

I killed gale. I didn't mean to! Tears stream down my face and I sob again.

I don't want to go to jail. I didn't mean to kill him!

I run up the stairs of our home, and run into the room. I grab a backpack and fill it up with as many things I can find. I put in pants, long sleeves, make up, sweaters, underwear, bras, and an extra pair of shoes. I grab a fifty from the nightstand and run downstairs. I hear knocking on the front door.

"Mr. Hawthorne, is everything ok in there?" I hear our nosy next door neighbor say. She knows that Gale hits me but she doesn't do anything about it. She thinks I deserve it.

I don't answer and open the fridge silently. I grab five water bottles and silently close the door.

"Mr. Hawthorne?" I hear Mrs. Coin say. I open a cupboard and grab as many canned foods as I can. When I hear the sound of the door knob twisting I take off running towards the back.

I hear Mrs. Coin's yells and I know that she found gale's body. I take out a sweater and put it on. I put the hood on and take off into the woods. I haven't been outside for so long.

I sob uncontrollably with tears streaming down my face, and trip. I get back up and run faster. I don't stop until I feel like I'm far away enough from the house.

I stop to catch my breathe and sob uncontrollably. I start to cry really loud but I put a hand over my mouth.

I try to calm down but I can't. I don't know how long I stay standing there but I can't stop crying. I need to move.

I take off in a sprint and don't stop until I can't run anymore. What feels like half an hour later, I reach the end of the woods. There's a small shop. I need a disguise.

I make sure the hood is on and I hide my face. I walk in the shop and see that there's a man with a beard behind the counter. He gives me a dirty look and my heart races. He's going to hit me.

_You worthless piece of trash._

I look around, wondering where that noise came from. It sounded like gale's voice.

"Hey, hurry up. Are you going to buy something or what?" The man asks in a angry voice.

"I-I-I'm sorry." I stutter and go down an isle. I see that there's some hair dye. I pick up a box and go back to the counter.

"That's all?" He asks and gives me a disgusted look. I nod slowly and he grunts." 8.25."

I hand him the fifty and he takes it from me. He puts it in a register and hands me my change. He puts the dye in a bag and hands it to me. I grab it from him and take off running. I don't stop until I reach a gas station ten minutes away from the shop. I go into the restroom and lock the door. I take out the dye and read the instructions. I've never dyed my hair before.

When I'm done reading the instructions I start to get the dye ready. When It's done, I put on the gloves. I start to dye my hair. When I'm done, I take off the gloves and throw them away. I put a bag on my head and tie it. I stand and wait for a good hour. It starts to stink in here so I quickly wash my hair in the sink. When I'm done, I dry my hair with one of my sweaters and I look in the mirror. My hair isn't dark anymore, It's blonde. It makes my eyes look bluish. You can still see my bruises. I grab some make up and quickly apply it. I grab my bag and leave the restroom. I take off into the woods again and don't stop.

I spend at least a week walking, and sleeping in the woods. My food is almost gone, I have one water bottle left. My feet hurt from walking too much, but I have to deal with it.

Every night I get nightmares of gale. It's either me killing him, or of him hitting me.

I get up and wipe sweat off my fore head. I start to walk again but my feet give out. I fall to my knees and get back up. I take off into a run and ignore the pain shooting through me. Five minutes later, the woods comes to an end, and I see that I've come across a small town.

It's morning time, so everyone should be up. They can't recognize me, I hope they don't.

I keep my head down and walk as fast as possible. I bump into something and I fall on the floor.

_"Get up you worthless whore." his angry voice says._

_"I didn't mean to embarrass you." I say and it comes out in a whisper._

_"I told you to not be shy! I told you to talk to people!" Gale yells and kicks me in the stomach._

I shudder and I see a hand in front of me.

"Sorry about that." I hear a soft voice.

I remember how I killed gale. He fell to the floor like I did. Tears fill my eyes and I get up. I take off running without looking back.

"Hey!" I hear the male's yells but I don't stop running.

I turn back and see that no one is behind me. I walk until I reach a small, hotel that's falling apart.

I go into the lobby and see a woman in her early fifties behind the counter.

"What may I get you?" She asks.

"One room please." I say barely audible.

She seems to hear it. She hands me the keys and says," That will be twenty dollars."

I take out a twenty and hand it to her.

"Room twelve." She says and I nod. I head over to the room and open the door. I shut the door behind me and see that there's a small bed, a bathroom, and a T.V.

I don't want to turn on the T.V. Who knows what I'll find.

I take out my stuff and set it on the bed. I take a clean pair of clothes and head to the shower.

I strip down naked and see that I've lost a few pounds. I shake my head and go in the shower. I realize I don't have any shampoo or conditioner. I don't think I'll be able to afford it. I need a job.

I do my best to wash and hop out the shower. There's some towels on the towel rack so I grab it and dry myself. I change into my clothes and begin to braid my hair but I stop. They'll know it's me. I leave my hair down and put it up in a high pony tail. It is kind of hot. I put on some make up, so my black eye won't show, and head out the bathroom.

I relax for a while and get up eventually. I take my keys with me and leave my stuff in the room. I lock my room door and head out.

I walk through the town and see that everything's really calm. I get to a park and see little kids playing. I smile abit and I feel something hit my back. I turn around and see a Frisbee on the floor. I bend down and pick it up. I see a boy with bronze hair and sea green eyes running over to me.

"Hey pretty lady, you new?" He asks and smirks.

I don't respond. What should I say? I'm not really a social person. I just hand him his Frisbee and stand there awkwardly.

"I'm Finnick. Finnick Odair." He says and he stretches his hand out. I thought he was going to hit me so I flinched abit.

I walk away from him and start to jog.

"What's your name?" He asks and jogs beside me. I don't respond. I can't tell him my name. Think of anything. " So you don't talk huh."

"Leave me alone." I tell him.

"I was just trying to be friendly." He says. No one has ever been friendly with me. I don't deserve to be treated right. He doesn't know what I did. Is he seriously trying to be friendly with someone who killed someone.

"Well don't." I tell him and walk away.

"It's abit too hot for sweaters and jeans you know." He calls after me and I ignore him.

I get to a more populated area of the town and I see shops. Someone has to be hiring here.

I walk around for abit and see a now hiring sign outside a bakery. It looks pretty packed inside.

I enter the bakery and see that there's tables. Waitresses are taking orders and I see a girl come up to me.

"Hi. Can I help you?" She asks and shoots me a fake smile.

" I'm looking for a job." I say trying to talk abit loud.

"Oh. Ok. right this way." She says and pulls me towards the back. It hurts my wrist a lot because of the many times gale has forcefully grabbed me by the wrist." The boss is bringing in sacks of flour right now, but he wouldn't mind you working here. We have to wear these uniforms."

She hands me a t shirt and some jeans.

"Can I wear my sweater?" I ask.

"It's hot in here, you do realize that?" She asks and raises a brow. I see that she has blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Yes." I say and she shoots me a weird look.

"Ok. I don't see why not." She says." Go change in the restroom, you start in ten minutes."

I nod and head to the restroom. I go into the bathroom and lock the door behind me. I take off my sweater and It reveals the bruises on my arms. They're extremely bad. Some of them took a month to go away.

I change into the uniform and slip on my sweater. I see that a few blonde strands from my hair are out, but you can't really notice it.

I grab my clothes and leave the bathroom. I see the girl waiting for me. She takes my clothes from my hands and puts them in a cupboard.

"We all have one to put our clothes in." She nearly yells over the noise." I just told the boss I hired you. He was cool with it."

"Ok." I say.

"You can start waiting whenever your ready. Just try to be friendly." She tells me.

I nod my head and she hands me a small note book looking thing. She hands me a pen and says," Get to work."

I nod and head over to a table. I see that they're a bunch of fifteen year old girls.

"Hi, can I get your order?" I ask and take out the pen.

"Yeah, we'd like tea." One girl with dark hair and brown eyes says.

"Ok." I say and head to the back. I start to make some tea and go back to their table with five tea cups.

I set them down in front of them and I say," Is that all?"

"That's all." She says. I head over to a different table and do the same. Everything goes great until I see someone turn on the news. A picture of me comes up.

"Twenty three year old Katniss Everdeen. She's currently on the run. There is a thousand dollar reward for anyone with information." The anchor lady says.

I suddenly feel sick. I head over to the girl with blue eyes and blonde hair.

"I'll be back tomorrow. I'm not feeling good." I say.

"It's probably because you have your sweater on." She says.

"No. It's not because of that. I wasn't feeling good at all today." I say and she gives me a suspicious look.

"Ok." She says." I'll see you tomorrow. Don't forget to grab your clothes. Oh, the boss wants to meet you."

"Tomorrow." I say and head to the back. I feel myself wanting to cry but I can't.

"Is everything ok?" I hear a soft voice and I jump. I turn around and see a man with blue eyes and blonde hair. He can't be more than twenty four years old. His eyes are a hypnotizing color of blue.

"Yes." I say and it comes out in a whisper. I grab my clothes and he says," I'm Peeta Mellark, the boss."

"Nice to meet you." I say and turn around.

"Can I at least get your name?" He asks and my heart beat speeds up. What should I say.

"Ka-Jessica." I say." Jessica wood."

"Nice to meet you Jessica." He smiles and I take off. It's still light out outside, but it's starting to fade away.

Tears stream down my face as I make my way back to the hotel room. I put my hood up and feel sweat coming down my face. Mt stomach growls and I realize I didn't eat a thing. I'll just eat what I have left of canned foods.

"Hey! Pretty lady!" I hear behind me and I keep on walking.

I feel footsteps getting closer and I start to feel sick. A strong arm grabs me force fully and spins me around. I start to cry and I say over and over," I'm sorry."

"What?" the man asks confused. I see it's the guy with bronze hair and sea green eyes.

"I didn't mean to ignore you." I say and a sob escapes my mouth. He gives me a look of sadness and he says," Are you ok?"

"It doesn't matter if I am or not." I try to sound polite. Gale never liked me talking back to him.

"Is anyone bothering you?" He asks and inspects me.

Gale was but I killed him. I'm a murder. Tears stream down my face and I shake my head.

"Don't lie." He says.

"I'm not." I say and It comes out in a whisper." I have to go."

He doesn't follow me. Good. I keep on walking and reach my room. I unlock the door and get in.

I quickly close the door and lock it. I go to my bed and take out the remaining of my canned foods. I only have about three. I have about twenty bucks left, I can probably buy some food tomorrow. I open up the can and start to eat. I down the food with some water.

There's a pounding on my door and my heart beat accelerates. It's them. They found me and are here to arrest me. I didn't mean to kill him!

"Open the door, I know you're in there." I hear a voice. I need to leave." I'm going to kick this door down if you don't open."

I need to open it. I can barely afford paying for a door that's been knocked down. I slowly shuffle over to the door and open it. I see it's the boy with bronze hair and sea green eyes.

"I know what's wrong with you." He says and my heart beat accelerates. He knows I killed Gale. He recognizes me.

My knees give out and I fall on the floor.

_"Get up, now!" Gale yells as I cry._

"It's not real." I mumble to myself and rock back and forth.

_"You think you're so smart huh." He says and one of his friend's laughs with him." Thom show this piece of trash what a woman's job is."_

"No!" I yell and cry.

I feel two hands help me up and it reminds me of how Thom grabbed me before he- before he raped me.

"Get out." I tell the man.

"No." He says and I push him out.

"Leave me alone." I say and slam the door on his face. I lock the door and slide a crappy desk in front of it. I used to do this when Gale would get drunk.

"I can help you." He says.

"If you want to help, start by leaving me alone. You don't know me well enough." I say as tears continue to stream down my face.

I hear him sigh and he says," I'll come back tomorrow."

I'll be gone.

I slide down the wall and feel myself shaking. Calm down Kat, it's ok. It's ok.

_"Thom's going to find you." gale says._

I look around the room and see that it's empty.

_"He's going to show you-" he begins._

"Stop." I say and sob. I go into my back pack and see something sharp. I take off my sweater.

_"What are you doing?!" I yell in pain when I see gale taking off his belt._

_"Teaching you a lesson." He says and slaps me with it._

I need to feel pain to make sure that It's not real. I grab the sharp thing and slide it across my wrist.

The voices and images start to fade away and I relax. Blood slides down my arm. I quickly tie one of my t- shirts on my wrist. I look outside and see that It's dark. Maybe I should try and get some sleep.

I kick off my shoes and let my hair loose. I realize I'm sweating. I walk over to the AC and turn it on. A blast of cold air comes out and I go to bed. I get under the covers and try to imagine myself in a better life. But I can't. I'm ruined for eternity.

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**Author's Note: Please review. Tell us what you thought.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I apologize for not updating! It is my fault! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own the hunger games or it's characters. All credit goes to Suzanne Collins.**

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**Katniss's POV**

I wake up and grab my work clothes. I head to the bathroom and take a shower. When I get out I see the cut on my wrist. It stings but not so much.

I quickly put my hair up in a pony tail, and shove all of my clothes in my bag. I'm not staying here another day, that guy is just going to come back. I'll sleep in the woods, I'm used to it. I put on a sweater and brush my teeth with my finger. I can't afford a tooth brush.

I put on my hood and walk out the room. When I get to the main lobby, I return the room key to the lady.

"Did you enjoy your stay?" The woman asks.

"Yes." I lie.

"I'm glad you did." She smiles and I walk away. I walk a different way to the bakery today. I don't want to run into that guy again.

When the bakery comes into view, I go to the back. I hide my bag by some dumpsters and head inside.

"Hey new person." The blonde from yesterday says.

"Hi." I say in a whisper.

She stares at me for a second and says," You ready to start?"

"Yes." I say. I hear a door open and the sound of feet.

"That's the boss, Peeta Mellark." She tells me.

The man from yesterday comes into the room. I see that he's carrying two bags of flour on his shoulders.

"Oh, hey Glimmer." He smiles. I think his name is Peeta Mellark, the boss." Jessica."

"So she has a name." She mumbles and files her nails.

"We were all just about to go get some breakfast, want to come?" He asks.

By we he means other people, I'm not a social person. Plus, I can't afford anything.

"No thanks." I shake my head.

"You sure?" He raises a brow.

"Yeah, I'll stay here and work." I say in a whisper and stare at the floor.

"Ok." He says abit unsure." You can work the register, one of my friend's is staying as well so you wont be alone."

I nod and head to the front. When I get there I see that the T.V. is on and people are watching it. People I've never seen before except for one. His bronze hair stands out and I feel like yelling.

I think he notices me staring at him because he turns around and his eyes widen. He doesn't say anything. He stares at me for a couple of seconds and turns back around.

"We'll be back in a bit. Are you sure you don't want to come Jessica?" Peeta asks. For a minute I wait for Jessica's response but then I remember I'm Jessica.

"Oh, No, I'm fine." I shake my head.

"Finn?" Glimmer asks. She's leaning against a wall, still filing her nails. They're perfect, I look down at mine and see that they're all chewed up, and dirty.

"We'll see you guys in a bit." Peeta says and gives me a small smile. I look away and scowl. I don't deserve to be smiled at.

"Don't listen to Finnick, he thinks he can get any girl he wants." A girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, tells me. I nod, and keep my eyes trained on the floor. When they all leave, I can feel him looking at me.

"So your name is Jessica." He says.

"Leave me alone." I mumble.

"Who's the man that hits you?" He asks.

"It's no one." I mutter.

"Tell me, I can help you." He says.

"I don't want help or need it." I mumble." It's best if you stay away."

"Not unless you tell me-" He begins.

"He's gone. He left." I shut him up. It's true." Can you please, just leave me alone."

He sighs abit angry and says," You know, it wouldn't hurt to have a friend."

I never had any friends, I'm used to it. I don't respond. I just look at the T.V. and he says," I'm going to the back to work on some bread."

He doesn't have to tell me or explain himself. He's a man, he can do whatever he wants.

I work the register for an hour in a half. About twenty people in total come. Finnick and I don't talk. I think that's his name.

Peeta gets back with his friends or employees. Peeta walks over to me with a small smile.

"I guess I didn't introduce myself correctly." He chuckles and I stare at him. I see him take out his hand and I flinch. He's going to hit me. Maybe I should've-"Are you ok?"

I see that everyone's staring at me. Even him. He looks at me with worried eyes. Why would anyone be worried about me?

"Yes." I mumble and quickly shake his hand. It's nice and warm.

"Let's get to work, bitches!" I hear a girl yell and laugh. I cringe at the word bitch. How can she call them that? They're not even doing anything to her. Everyone laughs. Maybe that's why gale's friends always found it funny when Gale called me a bitch.

"Can I maybe, get to know you abit better?" Peeta asks and I look back up at him. I see his eyes are friendly and all but I can't fall for it.

"No, that's a bad idea." I mumble.

"It's nothing weird, I just like getting to know my employee's." He says and smiles. He's gross.

"No." I mutter and glare at him.

His eyes widen abit and he says," Oh I didn't mean it like that, I meant like talking. You seem like an interesting person."

"There's nothing interesting about me." I say.

"I'm sure there is." He smiles.

"Just stop." I mutter.

"I'm sorry." He mumbles. I run my hands through my face and I feel wet. I'm sweating." You can take off your sweater, you know."

"I don't want to." I panic.

"Are you sure, it's hot-" He begins but I turn to him.

"It's not hot!" I yell really loud. I see that he has an expressionless look in his eye. I've seen that look before. It's the look gale gets before he wants to hit me." I-I-I'm sorry."

"It's ok." I gives me a sad smile." I'll be in the back if you need me."

I try to return the smile but It fails. Now we're just staring at each other, what do I do? Look away? I can't seem to, his eyes are too pretty.

I hear the door bell ring and I jump. I see that it's a cop and my palms get sweaty. They found me.

"Hey Peeta!" the cop smiles and peeta pulls the cop in for a hug. The cop has orange- red hair and green eyes." Who's this lady?"

Peeta pulls away and glares at the cop.

"My new employee, Jessica." Peeta smiles at me. I feel myself starting to blush so I look away." Don't try anything on her."

"Want to take a spin?" The cop asks me." In my car?"

I feel myself starting to shake.

"No." I say.

"You don't get this, it's a once in a lif-" He begins.

"I said no." I say.

"Feisty, that's new." The cop laughs. He reminds me of gale's friends.

_"Told you they'd find you." I hear gale say._

I whip my head around and see that he's sitting down on a chair, smiling evily at me. A sob escapes my mouth.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I feel peeta's hand on my shoulder.

_"You thought you killed me didn't you." He laughs loudly." You little bitch."_

_He gets up and starts to walk towards me._

I feel myself starting to shake, I actually feel tears streaming down my face.

"Jessica." Peeta says.

When gale is a foot away from me, I run to the bathroom. I get in and close the door behind me.

"It's not real." I mumble over and over. I fall on my knees and cover my ears.

_"Open the door Katniss." Gale says and I hear him knock." OPEN THE DOOR YOU DUMB BITCH!"_

I sob silently and open my eyes. This isn't real! I look around for something sharp. My breathing becomes more heavy. There's nothing here! The door knob starts to jiggle and I cry softly.

I punch the mirror and glass falls all over the counter. I grab a piece of glass, in my trembling fingers. I lift up a sleeve of my sweater and the door opens. It quickly closes and I see that it's peeta.

_"He's here to show you how worthless you are." Gale says._

"Not real." I shake my head. Peeta comes closer to me and I start to cry.

"Put that down." He tells me softly. I shake my head and I see him staring at my arm.

I tighten my grip on it. I feel something warm coming out of my hand.

"Let it go." Peeta demands. I have to listen, I don't know what my punishment might be. I put it on the floor and he wraps his arms around me.

"Get away! Stop! Please I'm sorry!" I cry and try to fight back but he doesn't let go." I'll listen next time, I swear!"

He pulls away and gives me a sorry look.

"It's ok." He says in a whisper." Calm down."

I want to believe him but I can't. Gale was like this, he was friendly and then he hit me.

When I calm down he takes my arm. I try to pull back but peeta doesn't let me.

"Who did this to you?" He says in an angry voice.

"No one." I mumble and get my arm back.

"Do you cut yourself?" He asks me. I see that his eyes are filled with anger. I pull down my sleeve and run out the restroom. Everyone stares at me and I run out the back door. I grab my backpack and take off running into the woods.

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**Author's Note: I'm sorry again for the wait! Please review. Half of the credit goes to me the other half goes to Awesomegirl2656**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Sorry for the wait, here's another update.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the hunger games or its characters. All credit goes to Suzanne Collins.**

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**Katniss's POV**

I run to the woods and accidentally trip on a root. My elbow makes contact with a rock and I feel it sting. A twig snaps and I immediately come back to my senses.

_"Come out Katniss. I'm sorry." Gale says. _

He would always tell me this. He'd say he's sorry, and he wouldn't hit me again, when I tried to leave him. Since I believed him, I stayed with him. He changed though. I remember a three years ago, I tried to leave him and he smacked me. That's when I didn't bother leaving.

I get up and start running.

_"I'll find you." He chuckles._

I feel myself fall, then there's blackness.

..

I wake up and see white everywhere. Where am I?

"Hi." I hear. I look to my right and see it's the woman that works at the hotel.

"Where am I ?" I ask her and look around. I see that I have stitches in my hand. I'm in a white bed.

"You're in the hospital. " She says." Do you have a name?"

"Jessica Wood." I say.

"I need to inform the doctor's, they didn't want to try anything without your approval." She says." Do you have any family members we can contact?"

"No." I say and study her.

"Where are they?" She asks.

"Does it really matter?" I reply and she doesn't say anything.

"I noticed that you have very few clothing, and food. If you need a place to stay-" She begins.

"I don't need help from anyone, thank you." I try to be polite.

"I'll go get the doctor." She mumbles leaves the room. I get up and lock the door. My clothes are by a chair. I quickly change from the hospital gown, into my clothes. They're clean. I grab my backpack and unlock the door. I put up my hood, and walk out the hospital. My hood is hotter than usual. I feel inside the hood, and realize my hair is down. I run over to a bench, and put my backpack on there. I zip it open and grab a hair tie. I tie my hair up and see my reflection in a small puddle on the bench. I'm not wearing any make up, everyone's going to see my scars and get suspicious.

I put my hood up and keep my face down. I put my back pack on and walk. My stomach starts to growl, but I ignore it.

"I'm just really worried about her." I hear a familiar voice.

"So am I dude. She looks like she's running from something." the voices get closer, and I keep my head down.

"If I ever lay eyes on that piece of shit, I'm going to tear him apart." I hear a voice say.

"so you have a crush on her, huh?" I hear a mischievous voice, beside me. I make my way around them and I feel someone spin me around. I don't look up. I feel my heart beat accelerate.

"Jessica is that you?" He asks. It has to be peeta.

"yes." I say in a small whisper.

"Are you ok?" He asks.

" Yes." I say.

"Can we talk, about yesterday?" He asks and I shake my head.

"why not?" He asks and I don't say anything." Why aren't you looking at me?"

I shrug my shoulders and I see his hand reaching for my hood. I take off running and don't look back.

I hear him calling for me but I ignore him. I run for a good thirty minutes and I stop to catch my breath. I'm thirsty, hungry, and tired. My stomach growls and I ignore it again. I've gone longer without food before.

I bump into someone and they yell," WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING TRASH!"

I look up abit and find the person I fear. The person that was friends with Gale. The person that raped me not once but twice, and laughed when gale abused me. Thom.

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**Author's Note: So tell us what you thought. Half of the credit goes to Awesomegirl2656, the other half goes to me. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Sorry for taking a long time to post! I'll try to update frequently.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the hunger games or its characters. All credit goes to Suzanne Collins.**

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**Katn****iss's POV**

"Hey, you look familiar." He looks me up and down with a smirk." Do I know you?"

I bite my lip to keep from crying.

"I said do I know you?" He asks and steps closer. He pushes my hood down and smirks." Well aren't you a beautiful thing."

When he reaches for my zipper I smack his hand away. I take off running, the opposite direction from him.

"I'll find you!" He yells in anger. I know he will.

_"Told you." I hear gale's voice. _

"Stop it." It comes out in a whisper. I run faster and don't stop until my lungs burn. I ran to a deserted area. I can't let Thom find me. He's going to do it again. I know he will. I hear heavy footsteps beside me. I turn and see that it's gale.

_"You're a worthless piece of shit." He spits at me." Thom's going to find you and show you-"_

_"_Stop it!" I burst into tears and place my hands over my ears.

_" Skank." He tells me and I hear the sound of him getting his gun._

"Stop!" I yell and cry harder. It's not real! It's not real! I take off my back pack and get a sharp object.

I place it against my wrist and sink the metal object into my flesh. Gale's voice starts to disappear.

I sigh and cut a few more times, to make sure his voice won't return.

I place the object back in my back pack and let the blood run down my arm. I feel tired. I just want gale to get out of my head!

I hear a loud sound coming from the sky; I look up. Droplets of water hit my face and lightning starts to flash. It looks like I won't be able to go into the woods again.

The rain comes down harder. I make no attempt to hurry up. I sling my backpack over my shoulder and start to walk west.

I put my now soaked hood up and follow a grassy trail. The town starts to appear again but there's so much you can see with all this hard rain.

"Jessica!" I hear someone yell. I walk faster. " Hey!"

I take off in a sprint but don't get far. I'm spun around and see those gorgeous blue eyes.

"What are you doing out here!" He yells over the loud rain.

"Walking." I say.

"Do you have a place to stay tonight?" He asks.

"Yes." I lie. He seems to notice because he pulls me towards his house." Stop it! Let go of me!"

"I'm not leaving you out here." He tells me.

"You barely know me! You can be taking in a criminal!" I yell at him.

"You're not a criminal." He tells me. Yes I am.

"Let me leave." I say.

"No." He says." You can leave tomorrow if you want, but not today." He says and pulls me into his house.

Cool air hits my face and I relax.

"Take off that sweater, it's soaking-" He reaches for it but I smack his hand away.

"No, it stays on." I say.

"It's soaking wet, you're going to get really sick." He says and attempts to take it off again.

"I said it stays on." I mutter and smack his hand away.

"What are you hiding?" He asks in a soft voice. He looks into my eyes searching for an answer.

"Nothing." I mumble and look away, like I did something that might hurt him.

He steps closer to me and I squeeze my eyes shut.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." He says in an honest, soft voice.

Why should I trust him?

"I'm not lying, I swear." He says.

Surprisingly, I don't hear gale's voice. I open my eyes and see that peeta is looking at me with pure sadness in his eyes.

He slowly zips down my sweater and I make no attempt to stop him. I have this feeling that I can trust him. But I can be wrong, because I felt that I loved Gale the first time I met him.

When the sweater unzips, I quickly cover myself up and get ready to turn around.

"Don't. I can help you." Peeta says and places a hand on my shoulder.

"You can't." I shake my head.

"Yes I can." Peeta says and turns me around so I'm facing him." Please let me help you."

I feel his hot breathe hit my lips and I can't help but turn away.

He starts to take off my sweater, and I don't stop him. When the sweater is completely off, I hear him gasp and I know why. I have several bruises, cuts and scars on my arms.

I wrap my arms around myself. I'm really self conscious about myself.

"Did he do this?" He asks angry.

I don't say anything.

"Did he?" He asks angrier.

"Yes." I reply real fast and close my eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He says in a softer voice." I just don't think it's right to treat a woman like this."

I don't say anything again.

He grabs my hand, and I pull away. What's he trying to do?

"I'm just going to clean your cuts. There's not much to do to your bruises except to put ice on them." He says. Prim would say something like that. So would my mom.

I feel my eyes starting to form tears, but I blink rapidly and scowl.

..

"Here's a shirt and some of my basketball shorts." He hands me his clothes. My arms are bandaged up, so are my legs.

"I have clothes." I say.

"They're dirty." He says and places his clothes in my hands." Take them."

"I don't need them." I say and give them back to him.

"Why do you reject help when it's given to you?" He asks and places the clothes on the bed.

"Because." I say. Don't tell him.

"You can tell me." He says softly.

"Because you're going to regret it!" I yell at him and my eyes widen." I didn't mean to yell, I'm sorry."

"It's ok." He tells me." How am I going to regret it?"

"You're going to find out who I really am, and regret giving me help." I tell him." That's how people are. That's probably how you are too."

"You know what, you're right." He says and steps closer to me." People are that way, but you want to know something? When I help someone, I don't regret it. If they tell me about their dark past, I don't push them away out of fear. I just help them move forward."

He takes a step closer to me and grabs my shoulders," I promise, I won't regret it. Do you believe me?"

He's giving me a long stare, as if he's trying to read my mind. Do I trust him? Should I?

"I don't know." I say honestly. He smiles abit and says," Well that's a start."

His eyes fill with determination.

"Do you want to take a shower?" He asks me and I scrunch my nose in disgust. Is that the reason he wanted me to stay? So I can take a shower with him?

His eyes widen seconds later and says," Oh! I didn't mean it like that! I meant if you want to take a shower by yourself."

I study him and see he's still abit panicked.

"Ok." I mumble. He hands me his clothes and says," There's towels in the cabinets. When you get out, there will be dinner waiting for you."

"Thanks." I say seconds later.

"You're welcome." I hear the smile in his voice. He closes the bathroom door after himself. I lock it, to make sure he won't try anything.

I take off my bandages and see that my cuts look better than before. I strip down until I'm naked and hop into the shower.

...

I look in the mirror and see that bruises on my face. I see the scar on my fore head and scowl. I quickly braid my hair, but take it out and put it in a messy bun.

I grab my backpack and take out my make up. Peeta can't see me like this. He'll know I'm a killer if I leave my face like this.

I put on make up until the bruises and scar disappear.

I get out the bathroom and sit down on the bed. I know peeta said I there would be food waiting for me at the table but I still have my doubts about him. Once, Gale made me a nice meal with some really fancy wine. It was the day after I was about to leave him but he apologized. I ate the meal and drank the wine but then I realized he drugged me.

_"If you try to leave again, I will set you and this house and fire." He threatens._

_I'm trying to be more aware of things since they're spinning._

I scowl at the memory .

There's a light know on the door.

"Jessica, you alright?" I hear peeta say.

"Uh- yeah." I say.

"Well dinner's waiting for you." He says.

"About that, I'm not really hungry." I say.

"But you have to eat-" He begins.

"I'm not hungry." I repeat myself.

"Ok, well, goodnight then." He says.

"Goodnight." I say. I get up and lock the door. I push a desk over it and lay down on the bed again.

Can I trust him? No, I can't.

But something in my heart wants me to, and I don't like it.

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**Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. Half the credit goes to Awesomegirl2656 the other half goes to me. Please review and tell us what you thought.**


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